Observation Walks
Activities | Trees | Mini Nature Trails | Scavenger Hunts | Nature Bingo | Birds | Deadfall

Prior to visiting the park with your group, walk the trails in the area by yourself. Watch for animal shelters and food sources (refer to the list below). Note the location of each. If you find many examples, you might want to narrow the list to one topic: shelter or food, or birds or mammals. Back at home sketch, trace or cut out pictures of the animals that are connected to the objects you have decided to point out to your group on the observation walk. A checklist of species at Fish Creek Provincial Park can be found in the Wildlife section of this website.

When you visit with your group, walk them along the trail you have selected. Stop at each of your selected objects, show the children the animal picture and ask them to find its shelter (or food, depending on your theme.) Another method would be to show the children the food source or shelter, then show them three animal pictures and have the children guess which animal would use it. For young children, you could make this easier by including pictures of animals that do not live in the park, such as elephants.

Examples of Shelter

Trees:

nests - birds nests - squirrels (ball shaped, against tree trunk) holes in trunks - made by birds, squirrels may be using tiny holes in bark - insects rolled up leaves - insects very low hanging evergreen branches - snowshoe hares

Plants:

galls - insects

Ground:

holes - ground squirrels dirt mounds - pocket gophers (mounds are evidence of their underground tunnels) under rocks or bark - insects, slugs and other invertebrates ant hills

Flattened plants or depression in snow:

deer or coyote bedding down spot

Water:

lodge - beaver nests - redwinged blackbird, up in tall plants nests - ducks, water level, among reeds and other plants

Examples of Food
Note: for many species, diets change with the season

Seeds - birds, mice, meadow voles
Twig ends - deer (ragged end) snowshoe hares (clean-cut end)
Bark - mice, beaver, porcupine
Insects - birds (e.g. woodpeckers, nuthatches, chickadees), shrews
Berries - birds (e.g. grouse, waxwings, coyotes)
Cones - squirrels
Mushrooms - mice, voles, squirrels
Gnawed bones or antlers - mice, voles, squirrels, porcupine
Green plants - summer diet for all herbivores (plant-eaters)